Rạch Gia to Ca Mau: Making it up as we go along

October 19, 2017

Today's plan was to head for Vĩnh Thuận about eighty kilometers away which we had identified as a feasible stopover on our way to Cà Mau. We would only do this if Leigh was feeling well enough - she has come down with the bug from which I have now almost completely recovered. When we woke up this morning I was pretty sure we should spend an extra day in Rạch Giá to allow Leigh to recover but she was keen to go so soon after six thirty, go we did.

We were soon in a traffic jam outside a local school and then it was the usual mayhem of motorcycles. We stopped to get a picture of the Tam Quan Gate.

We took another break to have some breakfast of com tam and pork and carried on slowly. The lady in my mobile phone led us to the ferry to cross the river at Cảng Cá Tắc Cậu but the ferry no longer runs - there is a new bridge a few kilometers away of which the navigation software was unaware.

A view from the new bridge westwards to where the ferry might have been

This got us on the road southwards to Đông Thái. Here we were to turn eastwards to Vĩnh Thuận. The problem was that the road southwards to Ca Mau looked so much better - a new-ish road with very little traffic. We were certain that we would be able to find somewhere else to stay along his new road so we carried on southwards. As it turned out, the road was quiet because it was set back from the canals where all the houses and businesses are. This also meant we had no way of finding accommodation without having to leave out lovely road. In the end, we just bit the bullet and carried on all the way to Ca Mau stopping to refuel regularly along the way.

Cà fê vòng is the Vietnamese name for a rustic coffee shop with hammocks strung out for use by the patrons. There is often free wifi available and the pace is slow and relaxed. They have become our go-to place to fill up on liquids along the road because they are about the only source of iced drinks, be it coffee or cola. It is as likely to find a talking dog in a cà fê vòng as it is to find English being spoken so communication, or lack thereof, becomes part of the experience.

This cà fê vòng was doing a roaring trade in live crabs. We had a pretty crappy noodle soup here but it was an entertaining rest stop.

A delightful old lady who made it clear she thought a moped would work better than a bicycle

Today's ride: 125 km (78 miles)
Total: 6,958 km (4,321 miles)

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